It’s a surprise to find an origin story for John Bishop, engaging stand-up comedian, translated from northwest England to upmarket parts of New York city. Partly just because he is so associated with Liverpool. But also because it puts us among a very different class of communication. The English (and the Irish for that matter) have never been noted for talking about their feelings. It sometimes feels as if Americans do little else.
Anyway, one brief shot of a Liverpool FC shirt aside, this engaging dramedy from Bradley Cooper feels firmly rooted in New York and its satellites. We begin with Alex (Will Arnett) and Tess (Laura Dern), who are on the verge of divorce, enduring an evening with their – to me, if not them – insufferable urban pals Christine (Andra Day) and Balls (Cooper).
Come kicking-out time, Tess heads back to the family home outside the city while Alex meanders back towards his rented apartment. Passing a comedy bar, he drops in for a drink and, short of dough, signs up to perform open mic rather than pay the cover charge.
It doesn’t go that well. But it doesn’t go that badly either. He moans about his current situation in a manner that seems fitfully diverting rather than shoulder-shakingly funny. Maybe he’ll be better next time.
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There is something here of the 1988 dud Punchline, but, whereas that Tom Hanks vehicle employed thuddingly predictable story arcs, Is This Thing On? is more at home to an erratic amble around the houses. We are closer to an improv night than a session of disciplined joke telling.
That approach has its advantages and disadvantages. Fine actors such as Dern, Arnett and (as the protagonist’s dad) Ciarán Hinds get the opportunity to stretch out in dialogue-heavy scenes. But Cooper the director lets Cooper the actor away with too much as a self-centred boob no friend of normal patience would uncomplainingly endure.
More seriously, the loose-limbed screenplay never settles down for long enough to explain what exactly went wrong – and so what might again go right – in Alex and Tess’s relationship.
Still, this remains a sincerely felt piece of entertainment that, unusually for current mainstream cinema, treats the audience and its characters like adults. Worth indulging.
In cinemas from Friday, January 30th
